A Phoenix cannabis business made labor relations history after workers voted 37-4 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99.
Employees at the Trulieve Magnolia cultivation facility, which is owned by Florida-based marijuana multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp., are the first agricultural workers in Arizona’s regulated marijuana industry to vote in a union election, according to a news release from the UFCW.
More significant, according to the release, is that agricultural workers typically are excluded from unionization efforts.
That’s because the National Labor Relations Act “specifically excludes agricultural workers from its jurisdiction,” the UFCW release noted.
The election was only the second vote administered by the Arizona Agricultural Labor Relations Board (AERB) since it was established in 1993, according to the UFCW release.
In a statement, UFCW Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin thanked the AERB for its “commitment to ensuring a free and fair election for all eligible employees.”
